Wednesday, November 25, 2015

I took advantage of the mild weather during the first half
of November to search out and eliminate some invasive shrubs. Most of what I find now are young plants that
have not matured enough to produce seed.
Birds will continue to bring in fresh seeds, and plants resulting from
those seeds are what I am primarily dealing with now. Birds that left seeds on this spot had a
varied diet that resulted in a cluster of my four primary target plants. Clockwise from upper center are Autumn Olive,
Multiflora Rose, Bush Honeysuckle, and Japanese Barberry.

Japanese Barberry is a recent invader of Blue Jay Barrens
and has not become very well established.
By the time the first Barberry plants began showing up, I had already
begun dealing with invasive shrubs. Only
a few got up to fruiting size before they were discovered and removed. This species is easy to control by stump
spraying with glyphosate. Even a maximum
recommended dilution of the chemical is enough to kill the roots.

I’ve still got a couple of small patches that continue to
produce a wealth of new Bush Honeysuckle plants each year. Fortunately, the glyphosate stump treatment
quite effectively kills this invader.
It’s discouraging to annually deal with so many new plants, but the
sites are small and the number of plants continues to decrease. Five years ago, the new Honeysuckle growth here
was thick enough to block the view of the ground, so I am making progress. I have to remind myself of that fact each
time I work here.

Only one larger Honeysuckle specimen was found this
year. It was roughly six feet high, but
was not old enough to produce fruit.
Last year, this shrub would have been only two or three feet tall and would
have been easy to miss in its position on the lower slope of the creek bank. I don’t mind finding an occasional large
plant, as long as I catch it before it has a chance develop fruit.

Autumn Olive is the most difficult shrub to control at Blue
Jay Barrens. I use a stump treatment of
undiluted glyphosate 41% concentrate solution.
This method is quite effective as long as the plant being treated is
displaying healthy, bright green leaves.
Once the leaves begin to yellow and drop, it becomes more difficult to
get a good kill.

Older, fruit bearing Autumn Olive specimens can be killed by the
same stump treatment, but there is a high likelihood of root sprouts appearing
the next growing season. It may take a
couple of years to eliminate the sprouts.
Seedlings also tend to recur for several years following the death of
the large shrub. Birds feeding on the
fruit, drop some of the seeds from the previous day’s feast. Some of these seeds are ready to sprout
immediately, while some may wait through a few seasons before germinating. The good thing is that no matter where the
new plants are coming from, their numbers tend to lessen with each passing
year.

Autumn Olive can grow so rapidly that they sometimes seem to
appear from nowhere. This area of Indian
Grass was mowed last November. Small
Autumn Olive plants, hidden in the thick grass, were cut off a few inches above
ground level. With a healthy root system
already in place, the regrowth from those cut stems reached six or seven feet
high in one season.

This is what the base of that plant looked like. The dead stub in the center of the stem
cluster is the single stem that was cut off last year. It’s obvious that mowing is no way to control
Autumn Olive.

To effectively treat young Autumn Olive, you must cut the
stem flush with the ground. The problem
is that the stem you see may not be rising directly above the root. Autumn Olive commonly produces a horizontal
stem that later gives rise to the aerial branches. This horizontal stem is often hidden by
thatch or neighboring plants. In the
photo, the stem to the left was attached to the root and the vertical shoot
emerged three inches away. Cutting and
spraying at the base of the vertical shoot would most likely not kill the
plant.

I am also beginning an assault on the invasive Crown
Vetch. It was planted along the road
about 40 years ago, but only recently has it begun to show up out in the
fields.

I was going to spray the Autumn Olive with Clopyralid this
summer, but neighboring vegetation made it impossible to get the spray through
to the vetch leaves. Instead of
spraying, I went around and identified the locations of all infestations, about
ten in all. I mowed them this fall and
will do my spraying next spring when the vetch begins growing. I guess I don’t have to worry about running
out of invasives to deal with.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Following a two day wind event, I took a walk along the new
fence line to see if any branches had fallen on the fence. No branches were found, but one large tree
trunk had run afoul of the fence on its way to the ground. To anyone unfamiliar with this view, the abundance
of downed trees makes it hard to identify that one that is causing the problem.

There it is. I have
to admit it chose a nice place to fall.
Centered between two wood posts on a patch of level ground, it was
probably the easiest place along the whole line to work on removing the
log. The most time consuming part of the
job was the one mile round trip to the barn and back to get the tools I needed.

With a high tensile fence such as this, each wire strand
stretches independently of the others.
The upper most strand takes the most punishment, while the lowest strand
is hardly disturbed. In this case, the
fence wire is actually supporting this section of log off of the ground. It was fortunate that the log, partially
decomposed and heavily worked on by Pileated Woodpeckers, broke into sections
on impact with the ground. The log was
held at an ideal position for cutting.

The fallen log caused increased tension on the fence wires
that produced an upward pull on this steel post. This was identified as an at risk post during
installation of the fence and was equipped with a steel cable attached to a
ground anchor. The post was able to lift
about half an inch before the cable came taught and stopped the rise. This is how it was supposed to work. I’m glad it followed the plan.

After cutting the tree trunk in two about a foot back from
the fence wire, the remaining log could be pushed up and away from the
fence. Once the log was clear, the fence
wires jumped back into place.

In order for the fence to take this kind of abuse without
damage, it is necessary to install post clips and staples in a way that allows
the wire free movement. When the tree
hit the fence, the added tension was spread over several hundred feet of
wire. Had the wire been firmly attached
to these two posts, it surely would have broken as the tree made its way to the
ground.

The fence is back to being good as new. This is why high tensile makes such a good
choice for use in wooded areas.

Friday, November 13, 2015

I just found Blue Jay Barrens plant species number 542,
Maple-leaf Viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium.
My first encounter with this plant was many years ago as an undergrad taking
a course in local flora at the OSU Marion campus. I thought it was a wonderful plant then and
am certainly happy to have it now as a resident of my property. This is a native plant, bringing my list of
native species up to 446. That number is
approximately 25 percent of the total number of native plants in the State of
Ohio.

The Viburnum is growing in a cedar thicket at the base of a
south facing slope. Up until now, few
understory species, with the exception of the invasive Autumn Olive, have
colonized this area. It’s certainly nice
to see a native shrub here.

This area was cropped up until the mid 1950’s when it was abandoned
and let grow up in Eastern Red Cedars. The
deeper soil at this location allowed the cedars to grow rapidly into tall thin
trees. On April 4, 1987, 18 inches of
heavy wet snow fell during about a 10 hour period. The weight of the snow bowed some trees over
and brought others all the way to the ground.
Fallen and curved tree trunks are still visible today.

The leaves of Maple-leaf Viburnum are hairy on both sides
and feel like soft fabric.

New twig growth also sports a nice crop of hair.

The six narrow Maple-leaf Viburnum trunks in this little
group are most likely the result of seed or seeds deposited in a bird dropping. It’s possible that all six are part of a
clonal group developed from the original seedling. It’s also possible that more than a single
seed germinated in this spot. Seeds from
a single bird dropping would naturally end up in close proximity on the ground.

Fruit on the plants are an indication that the cluster of
plants are the result of at least two seedlings developing on the site. Viburnums are not self fertile, so require pollen
from a different plant in order to produce fruit. A clonal group is essentially a single plant
and would not produce fruit unless pollen was carried in from somewhere
else. There are no other Maple-leaf
Viburnums anywhere near this clump, making it unlikely that a pollinator
carrying the correct pollen happened to visit these plants. The majority of fruits had already been
consumed prior to my discovery. I hope
the birds leave the seeds somewhere nearby.
I’m looking forward to watching this plant flower and develop through
the summer next year.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Eastern Red Cedar fruit is ripe and the Cedar Waxwings have
moved in to feed on their namesake meal. As
if in response to the overabundance of cedar fruit produced this year, the
Cedar Waxwing flocks are larger than I normally see here in the fall. This individual is part of a flock that
numbers in excess of 100 birds.

The birds are in almost constant motion as they move to and
from the fruit laden cedar.

Time spent in the branches of the cedar is spent in
consuming as much fruit as possible.

There’s no shortage of fruit on this tree now, but if the
Cedar Waxwings stick around, the tree will probably be without fruit in less
than a week. This is a show that I look
forward to each year.

The Cedar Waxwings move in for a quick feed and then move
away to perch on the leafless branches of nearby deciduous trees.

The birds act as though the food will disappear if they don’t
grab it right away.

The bird in the center consumes at least a half dozen fruits
in this 16 second video.

If these videos fail to perform, they may be viewed on
YouTube by clicking Video 1 or Video 2 or Video 3.

ABOUT BLUE JAY BARRENS

Located in the Bluegrass region of Southern Ohio, Blue Jay Barrens contains excellent xeric habitat inhabited by a wide variety of rare native plant and animal species. Since 1985, this private property has been managed to improve the integrity of the special ecosystems found here. This blog provides information on the current activities at Blue Jay Barrens.

RESPONSE TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS BLOG

It’s my intent to share information on current events at Blue Jay Barrens. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all photos were taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens.

Plant scientific names are from Gleason and Cronquist 1991. I realize that some changes in preferred nomenclature have occurred, but this is the principle reference I have been using for flora identification. Knowing this, I believe most people can figure out just what plant I’m talking about.

My discussions of flora and fauna are not intended to be a complete life history. There are plenty of good references for this type of information. I am discussing my personal experiences with plants and animals on this specific property. Any other information I may provide is intended to help you understand the significance of my observations.

MY 3 FAVORITE NATURE BOOKS:

1- Of Mosquitoes, Moths and Mice, by C Brooke Worth.2- Mosquito Safari: A Naturalist in Southern Africa, by C Brooke Worth.3- A Naturalist in Trinidad, by C Brooke Worth.

MY 3 FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS:

1- The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz2- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham3- The Windhover Tapes (1st 3 volumes) by Warren Norwood

MY 3 FAVORITE MOVIES:

1- Vanishing Point 1971 with Barry Newman2- Flim Flam Man 1967 with George C Scott - also like the book by Guy Owens3- The Lathe Of Heaven 1979 with Bruce Davison - also like the book by Ursula K LeGuin

MY 3 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan2- Fawlty Towers with John Cleese3- Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin